Right Side of the Bed
by roktavor
Summary: Five instances where Rantaro and Valt sleep in the same bed - and somehow it never goes according to plan. ...In fact, it usually ends with someone on the floor, but they're doing their best.


**A/N:** This can maybe be shippy if you want, and I don't mind if you want to see it that way. These two are very close, after all. I really have a lot of feelings about them, aaaahh

Started writing this a long time ago, finally got around to editing and posting. The title is what gave me the most trouble, lol. Anyway.

Enjoy!

* * *

The first time they end up sharing a bed is when he spends the night at Valt's house.

They've only known each other a few months, but this is hardly the first time Rantaro has been in Valt's house. It isn't even the first time he's slept over, and usually he takes the couch, or a futon on the floor of Valt's room.

Tonight, though, the whole gang is spending the night, and space is scarce. Ideas for sleeping arrangements are tossed around several times over, and more than once Valt offers to give up his bed to Shu. Eventually they settle on a layout that should work for everyone involved.

Valt's room is tiny, and it's decided that all of them cramming in there would be a bad idea…so of course Valt insists on it. He doesn't want anyone getting lonely downstairs, he says, and there are only five of them, so it won't be _too_ bad. He offers to let Shu share his bed, even.

"No thanks," Shu politely declines, setting up a spot for himself closer to the door.

Valt pouts a little, then asks Daina, who also refuses after glancing at Shu. Kensuke is also watching them, and if Rantaro had paid more attention to stuff back then, he would have probably also picked up on the silent conversation – but he's a little oblivious sometimes. So, before Valt can start whining, he jumps in.

"I'll share with you," he says, ruffling Valt's hair, "as long as you don't snore."

"Okay!" Valt brightens right back up, grabs an extra pillow, and gets his bed set up.

Rantaro doesn't realize what he's inadvertently agreed too until sometime after midnight. He's not really sure what time it is, because he can't see the clock anymore. And he can't see the clock anymore because of the uncomfortable position he's forced to lie in. _And_ he's forced to lie in an uncomfortable position _because_ Valt is currently taking up about 85% of the bed, despite being one of the shortest people Rantaro knows.

He sighs and throws an arm over his eyes – a feat which he can't accomplish without pulling his forearm out from underneath his head, his fingers brushing Valt's shoulder as they go. "Stupid Valt…" he mumbles.

At first, he didn't have the heart to push Valt back over to his half, or even to wake him up and make him move. Now, though….

Trapped on his side, he only really has enough space to kick at Valt's legs. His height should be too much for them to line up well enough to do this, but Valt is spread-eagle smack dab in the middle of the bed. So Rantaro nudges him gently with his heel at first, and then kicks a little harder.

Valt doesn't even twitch, from what Rantaro can tell with his own face thoroughly pressed to the wall.

"Valt…" he grumbles as he switches to plan B. Plan B involves squeezing his right arm out from where it's sandwiched between his stomach, the edge of the bed, and the ever unforgiving wall. To do so he has to brace himself with his left, which is still half trapped under his own head and half flung over his eyes from earlier. It's easier thought than done, but he manages it.

He hopes _everyone else_ is sleeping well.

Arm successfully freed, he lifts it, bends it, and jabs his elbow behind him and into whatever part of Valt he can reach. He has to do it twice before he gets a reaction.

Said reaction is a bit underwhelming, and even counterproductive, because all Valt does is mumble something about a rush shoot and stretch out _even more_. His hand hits directly between Rantaro's shoulder blades, and Rantaro is smushed further against the wall.

"That does it," Rantaro growls. He's trying to keep it down for the others' sake, which puts shouting out of the question, so there's only two other options left to him.

Plan C is next up, and it involves him rolling over so he can physically shove Valt away from him with his hands. Of course, step one of Plan C winds up being harder than he anticipated, as he has even less space now, and so trying to roll over in either direction turns out to be impossible.

…Well, that's just fine, because it makes way for Plan D. As his final idea, he hopes this one, at least, won't let him down. Plan D is better than the others, because it actually has multiple possible outcomes that would all lead to Rantaro actually getting a good night's sleep, so it's safe to say he's left the best for last.

Making sure to be as careful as possible, Rantaro tries to roll over again – only this time, he doesn't bother avoiding the boy next to him. Rolling on top of Valt is much easier than trying to turn over without jostling him, luckily enough.

Now, this could very well wake Valt up, but that would be okay, because then Rantaro would just get to ask him to move. Even if Valt argued, at least he'd have a chance!

Valt, though, is a very heavy sleeper, and therefore he doesn't even move a muscle.

Rantaro makes it the whole way over top of him and onto the other side, remembering at the last second to catch himself by grabbing Valt's headboard so he doesn't go careening off the edge and onto the floor. Once he's settled and secure, he puts his hands on Valt's shoulder and pushes with all of his strength –

– Only to end up forcing himself backwards instead of shoving Valt forewards.

Rantaro sighs. Time to amend Plan D.

He slips out of bed and onto his feet, planting them in Valt's plush area rug as he plants his hands against Valt's shoulder again. This time, when he pushes, he's able to slide Valt all the way to the other half of the bed, exactly where he himself had been previously.

Straightening up and putting his hands on his hips, he takes a moment to survey a job well done. (Only a short moment, though, because Valt could move again at any time, and Rantaro still plans on sleeping comfortably tonight.) Then it's straight back into bed.

Seeing as this time he has plenty of space all to himself, Rantaro falls asleep much easier and stays that way for the rest of the night.

When he wakes up the next morning (technically, later that same morning as he hadn't fallen asleep until after midnight, but that's irrelevant), he stretches out as far as he can as his eyes blink open.

Wait a second.

He's supposed to be sharing a bed with Valt, but he wouldn't be able to stretch like this if he wasn't the only one here. Sitting up, he stares down at the covers. There's definitely no Valt on this bed anymore, but a quick glance around the room tells him that everyone else is still sleeping.

Now, he knows Valt well enough to know that he never would have been able to navigate the minefield that their other friends have become overnight without stepping on someone. …Not to mention, Valt has a habit of sleeping too late.

So therefore, Valt should very much be where he was last night.

But he's not.

A soft snore from off to the left somewhere grabs Rantaro's attention, and he crawls over to that edge of the bed. Looking down he sees Valt, on the floor, wedged between his bedframe and the wall in a position that absolutely can't be comfortable. Sometime in the night, Valt must've pushed the bed out in his sleep and fallen down there – and if it were anyone but Valt, Rantaro really wouldn't believe that was possible.

"Hey, Valt." Rantaro doesn't want to leave him there, so he reaches into the crevice and flicks Valt's nose. "Valt," he tries again, "wake up!"

Valt says something about Valkyrie, but he definitely doesn't look awake as he rolls over further and disappears halfway under his bed.

" _Valt_ ," Rantaro grouses, "what's with your sleeping habits…."

Despite his frustration, he reaches down and takes hold of Valt's arm, tugging until he's back out from under the bed and situated on his side. He lets go so he can lie on his stomach and bring both hands down to pinch Valt's cheeks.

"Wake. Up!" He punctuates his words with two tugs on Valt's face. It doesn't work, of course, and Rantaro kicks his feet into the air with impatience. He should just leave Valt down there and go get breakfast. Is that acceptable sleepover behavior?

Behind him he can hear the others start to move around as they wake up, and a glance over his shoulder tells him that Shu is sitting up and watching him with a tiny smile. It could be the distance playing tricks on his eyes – Shu is all the way across the room, after all – but it looks like an amused smirk to Rantaro.

Well, if everyone else is pretty much awake, anyway….

Rantaro gets back up onto his hands and knees, inhales, and bellows, "VALT! WAKE UP!" as loud as he can.

This time, his tactics have the desired effect, and Valt jerks into a sitting position.

Unfortunately, Rantaro had been leaning down to properly shout as close to Valt's ear as possible, and when Valt sits up, their foreheads crack together.

x

Later on, as they're all finally making their way downstairs for breakfast, Rantaro is glaring at Shu, who still has that tiny little smirk on his face.

"You knew," he accuses.

Shu passes him on the stairs, patting him on the shoulder once as he does. "Thanks, Kiyama," he says without turning around.

"Why didn't you _warn_ me!"

* * *

To be honest, Rantaro isn't quite sure how exactly it happens this time. But they all agreed to stay in the same wing of Wakiya's country estate as Wakiya himself, and there aren't as many bedrooms in this one, so some of them have to double up.

Rantaro learned from last time! He really did! It's just that by the time everyone else has picked a room, Valt is the only one left over, and no one else will let him in with them…or at least, that's the story Rantaro gets.

Sighing, Rantaro steps aside and lets Valt bounce happily into his room. He wonders just how much sleep he'll be getting tonight.

When he turns around, he sees that Valt's already made himself at home by flinging himself onto the bed to jump on it. He's actually getting decent air, too!

…Rantaro decides, at that moment, that even if Valt is going to inevitably keep him awake later, there's no reason they can't have fun now. So he joins him.

One particularly hazardous pillow fight (and one very broken, very hidden lamp) later, they change into their pajamas and collapse into bed. For a little while, they discuss the battles they'll have tomorrow – it's Wakiya's birthday, and he imported three new stadiums with unique gimmicks for the occasion – but it's not long before Valt nods off.

And, of course, once Valt nods off, it's not long before Rantaro _can't_.

At first it's some of the usual nonsense. Although, _this_ bed is centered along the back wall of the room, and as such both sides are fair game for falling out of for Rantaro – but then again, that also means that he doesn't have to climb over Valt to get out of bed and push him back.

It happens twice that Rantaro is forced to stand up and shove Valt back over to his side. If he weren't so stubborn, he thinks, he could sleep on the floor. But he deserves to be comfortable, too! It's not his fault that Valt just can't seem to stay still.

The third time must really be the charm after all, because after that, Rantaro gets a break long enough for him to fall into a peaceful, undisturbed sleep…

…Until he wakes up to a literal kick in the face, that is.

He rubs one hand over his chin as the other grabs hold of Valt's ankle. Groaning, he flings Valt's leg as far away from himself as he can. Rantaro thinks for a moment that he might be dreaming – because how can anyone get so turned around while sleeping – but then the foot flies back and hits him in the cheek, and from the way it smarts he knows he's awake.

"Seriously?!" he squawks, louder than he intended to. As he sits up, he shoves Valt's offending limb away again, and takes stock of their positions. He himself is exactly as he fell asleep, taking up a reasonable amount of the bed.

Valt, meanwhile, is upside-down and diagonal, now. His legs are, obviously, at the top of the bed and angled toward Rantaro, while his top half is angled away. One arm dangles off of the edge of the bed, while the other is splayed out, fingertips close to Rantaro's shin.

Somehow, he's also managed to get on top of the covers while Rantaro is still under them, and it's this that gives Rantaro his idea.

It's…well, even in Rantaro's head, it seems like a ridiculous plan. But in his defense, he reasons, he needs sleep and this time there's no wall to help him keep Valt's erratic movements contained. Plus, Valt is used to waking up in odd positions, so he won't suspect a thing.

With a triumphant grin firmly in place at his own genius, Rantaro climbs off of the bed. He moves over to Valt's side and gently maneuvers his dangling arm until it's tucked up against his chest. Then he picks up the edge of the blanket that's hanging towards the floor and wraps it over Valt, making sure it's secured under him on his other side.

Next comes the really fun part, and Rantaro can't help but snicker to himself as he rolls a still-sleeping Valt up until he's entirely wrapped up in the blanket several times over. Once Valt is secure on the other side of the bed, Rantaro climbs in next to him.

There are no covers left for him, now, but it's a warm enough night that that doesn't matter. All that matters is that he can now sleep undisturbed.

And so he does for a few more hours, only waking up when he hits the floor.

" _Valt_!" he snaps on reflex, because who else could be responsible.

He opens his eyes and sure enough, there's Valt, free from the confines of the blanket burrito and now completely sideways on the bed. Rantaro's shout did nothing to wake him up, and he actually looks pretty peaceful.

"Tch."

Rantaro stands up, stretches, and then yanks the blanket out from under Valt and off of the bed. He also confiscates both of the unused pillows.

This time, he decides he's better off sleeping on the floor.

* * *

It's just the two of them spending the night at Shu's – although unbeknownst to him they've invited everyone else for breakfast tomorrow morning – and the couch bed in his living room turns out to be the most convenient place for them to crash.

All of the furniture in Shu's home is new, fancy, and comfortable, but even so the pull-out couch wasn't the easiest thing to, well…pull out. Once they manage it, though, it turns out to be a great place to have a movie marathon before Shu turns in for the night.

Rantaro and Valt manage to stay up talking for about an hour before Shu comes out to shush them – and even then the two of them laugh at each other for another half-hour before finally falling asleep.

This time, Rantaro wakes up for no real reason in the middle of the night.

This time, he finds that Valt has fallen off the bed completely and is snoring away on the floor.

He figures that this makes them even from last time, throws a blanket over his friend, and flops back down directly in the center of the mattress to sleep.

* * *

They're too exhausted to walk Valt back to his house, and both agree to crash at Rantaro's place instead. Valt already stayed for dinner, and a brief phone call ensures that Valt's mom won't mind if he spends the night. Then they traipse up to Rantaro's room to get ready for bed properly.

He knows it's a lot more cluttered than Valt's room, Shu's apartment, and especially the guest rooms at Wakiya's estate. But he knows where everything is, and all of his clothes are put away, so he figures a couple out-of-place lollipop wrappers won't be a problem.

Valt doesn't seem to mind, at any rate, if the way he's bouncing on his heels as he peruses Rantaro's bookshelf is anything to go by.

"You have a lot of comics," Valt comments, running his fingertips over the spines. Then he spots the beys on the next shelf up, and lets out an audible gasp as he steps back to get a better look. "What are these? Is this a Ragnaruk?"

Rantaro hurries over as he sees Valt picking up one of the three beyblades he has proudly on display. "Don't touch things without asking!" There isn't any actual heat behind the reprimand, but these are important to him.

Rubbing at the back of his neck, Valt offers an apologetic grin as he hands over the yellow bey so Rantaro can put it back where it belongs. "Sorry, Boss."

"No worries," Rantaro mutters. He points to the freshly replaced bey, and then the other two in turn. "This is proto-Ragnaruk, and this is the bey I had before proto-Ragnaruk…and this one was my dad's."

" _Cool_!" Valt stands on his toes to get a better look at his dad's bey, his eyes shining with wonder, and Rantaro feels a spark of pride. "D'you think he'd battle us?"

"I thought you were tired!"

"Tomorrow then?"

x

All of Rantaro's pajama bottoms are, of course, way too long on Valt – but he doesn't seem bothered, content to roll them up several times as he laughs. "Your legs are too long, Boss!"

"Yours are too short!" Rantaro fires back.

This time, when they climb into bed, Rantaro automatically gives Valt the side against the wall. He pulls out the flashlight he keeps stored next to his bed and points it at his friend. "Don't push me out of bed again," he warns.

"I won't!"

"And don't fall out yourself either!"

"I _won't_!"

"Hmph." Rantaro switches the flashlight off and returns it to its rightful place. "Night, then!"

"Goodnight, Boss!"

Honestly, Rantaro should be used to this by now. That's the first thought in his head when he wakes up to Valt sprawled sideways on top of him. But no, for some reason he kind of maybe thought that tonight, Valt would stay put…which is a ridiculous notion, in hindsight.

The upper half of Valt's body is hanging off of the bed, his arms pressed to the floor while his knees press into Rantaro's thighs.

With a sigh, Rantaro sits up. "Every time," he mutters, "every time…." Carefully, he extracts himself from beneath Valt so he can sit up on his knees. Leaning forward, he grabs Valt around the waist and hauls him back onto the bed properly, making sure to turn him as he goes so that Valt is actually laying the right way.

As soon as Rantaro lets go of him, Valt rolls over and nearly falls right off the edge of the bed. Fortunately, Rantaro is fast enough to grab hold of him again before that can happen, and this time he pulls him back to the center of the bed.

"Jeez. I can't leave you alone for a minute," Rantaro sighs. He rubs his hands over his face and runs them back through his hair, scratching at his scalp. An idea hits him, and he figures it's better than nothing if he wants to get any peace.

After letting himself flop back down next to Valt, Rantaro stretches an arm across his chest as a sort of restraint.

Almost immediately, Valt starts to roll away, but Rantaro proves he has excellent reflexes yet again when he fists his hand in Valt's borrowed nightshirt and tugs him back.

"Work with me, Valt," he mumbles, not wanting to wake up his dad. When he finally has Valt re-situated, he wraps both of his arms around the kid, just to make extra sure he won't go anywhere.

Valt twists in his arms yet again, but to Rantaro's surprise, he turns inward. Two arms curl around Rantaro and squeeze – and just like that, Valt is clinging to him.

Neither of them fall off the bed that night.

* * *

"Boss?"

Rantaro isn't asleep – not even close, honestly – and so he turns to look towards the bed next to his own. "Hm?"

"…I can't sleep," Valt admits. It's pretty dark in the room, but Rantaro can make out a sheepish grin on his face.

Rantaro props himself up on an elbow so he can see Valt a little better. "Me neither." It's his second night away from home, and he hadn't really slept too well last night. At least tonight, he's got the undeniable familiarity of Valt to share his space with…even though it hasn't helped so far.

They're just so far from home. That's what's bothering him, anyway: his gut twists with excitement and nerves, and he wonders what his dad is doing right now. _Almost_ wishes he could wake up tomorrow to the same old routine, and has to remind himself how lucky he is to be here right now.

On his other side, Kitt's breathing is deep and even.

"It's weird," Valt says.

"Yeah," Rantaro agrees, because that about sums it up perfectly. Leave it to Valt.

"I miss my room," Valt continues, "and Tokonatsu and Nika. And mom and dad. Kensuke and Daina!" He sits bolt upright in bed just as Rantaro is about to tell him to relax. "Do you think Shu is okay in America?!"

"Sh!" Rantaro sits up, too, though. "Don't wake the whole building…."

Valt falls quiet and slumps in on himself, shoulders curling. "I miss home," he says quietly.

A pang shoots through Rantaro's heart, and he bites his lip briefly. "I miss it, too." (He tries his best not to think of his dad waking up to an empty apartment. Instead he should focus on his self-appointed task of taking pictures of every cat he sees and sending them to Daina. It…kind of helps, but doesn't make him any less homesick.)

There's a very, very tiny sniffle from Valt, and Rantaro can feel his own tears collecting. He scrubs them away deciding he's had just about enough.

"Come on, Valt!" he says, pumping his whisper full of as much cheer as he can muster. "We can e-mail everyone tomorrow!"

"Even Wakiya?" Valt's voice is a little watery, but at least he sounds more like his old self, and there aren't any tears shining in the dark anymore.

Rantaro scowls, and it's mostly for show. "If we have to."

That gets a laugh out of Valt as he lies back down, settling back into bed properly.

Still sitting up, Rantaro stares at the ceiling. It's different than the one in his room at home – this one is textured and fancier. He sighs, but keeps looking until he figures Valt has long since fallen asleep.

"…Boss?"

Or maybe not.

"Hm?"

"I can't sleep."

Rantaro laughs this time, finally tearing his eyes away from the ceiling. He sees Valt still in bed, covers pulled up over his mouth and eyes very much wide awake. "Still?" he asks.

Nodding, Valt pushes his blanket off of his mouth. "I told you, it's – "

"Weird," Rantaro finishes, "yeah."

Somewhere in the dormitory, a great big clock chimes the hour. It's barely discernible, but it _isn't_ a sound from home, and as such it's even more out of place than the stuffy bookshelves he can barely see in the dark, or the small, sad frown on Valt's face.

Rantaro kicks off his covers and grabs his pillow as he stands up. Valt's bed is only one step away from his, and he pokes his friend in the shoulder. "Move over."

Getting the hint, Valt grins. He squirms under the covers until he's on the opposite side of the bed, taking his pillow with him.

These beds are small, but there should be just enough room for both of them, Rantaro reasons, as long as they don't move too much…. He plops his pillow down, and then lifts the corner of the blanket so he can slide in underneath it.

This time, the sigh Rantaro lets out is much more content. He can feel Valt's familiar warmth next to him, and it might sound weird, but he even smells more like home than the pristine bedding. It's comfort and familiarity - even more so when Valt's head comes to rest on his shoulder.

"This is better," Rantaro declares.

Valt's hair tickles his cheek when he nods, and it seems like he's already falling asleep. "I'm glad you're here…" he mumbles, and it's so quiet Rantaro half suspects he's talking in his sleep.

He answers anyway. "Me, too."

x

It's _less_ better in the morning, when he wakes up in an uncomfortable tangle of limbs with Valt, both of them all turned around on the bed. Kitt is shouting something (probably trying to get them out of bed), and just like that Rantaro and Valt end up on the floor.

But Valt is laughing, and Kitt is shaking his head, and there's sunlight streaming between the curtains –

And maybe this could get to feel something like home after all.

* * *

 **A/N:** This originally had a different, shorter ending - but season two, oh man. I didn't mean to go all sappy but they're 11 years old and in a foreign country by themselves like...

There's still stuff I'm not happy with, but I'm trying to get better at posting things without overthinking it - because I have a bad habit of overthinking indefinitely and just...never posting. So.

(...Also, I wanted to post KumiWaki but I just so happened to finish this first. But, uh, some KumiWaki will probably happen next. And an update for RZ. I'm. Tryin'.)

Thanks for reading!

P.S: Speaking of season two, who else is really irritated by how Rantaro's been treated so far? First season was bad enough but now...this kid deserves better.


End file.
